Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

In case you miss any of these email over the last four years, they are
all archived in the Military Family Network at
http://www.emilitary.org/forums/index.php?showforum=664 and also at the
POAC-NoVA website of
http://www.poac-nova.org/base.cgim?template=news_and_events.

Items 1 through 13 have been deleted, since they are primarily for
families living in Virginia and Maryland, and I did not want to send
useless information to the folks in the rest of the country. However,
please let me know if you live in Virginia, Maryland or DC; so that I
can add you to my private email distribution list for events in those
states.


14. The November/December OARacle E-Newsletter from the Organization
for Autism Research is at
http://www.researchautism.org/resources/newsletters/2007/novemberdecembe
r.asp#one.

15. Autism Study - seeking adult participants. From the neuroscience
laboratory of Dr. Maximilian Riesenhuber at Georgetown University
(http://maxlab.neuro.georgetown.edu). We are beginning an
autism-related study in our lab, and we are seeking adults on the
spectrum who are interested in participating in behavioral and MRI
neuroimaging experiments at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
Our study is in collaboration with Dr. Angela Bollich at the Center for
Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children's National Medical Center and
investigates the way visual information, such as images of faces and
objects, is processed in the brain. We are hoping to recruit a diverse
group of potential participants from around the area through autism and
asperger's community resources such as your website. Dr. Bollich has
also offered to give educational talks to local groups in the community
regarding autism spectrum disorders in appreciation for your assistance.
To those who have seen and/or responded to a similar email in the past
months, we your past help in spreading word of the study, and your
continued support/assistance is immensely appreciated. In order to
control for potential spam filters I will copy and paste below the new,
approved web posting, which contains info of an increased compensation
for time and travel to those who participate. Our hope is that you might
be able to add this to your mailing lists/forums/boards. We also have
brochures that give further information about the study that we would be
more than willing to mail directly. Please let Eric Hyder at
Eh242@... know of any questions you might have about the
study, and what resources may be available for recruiting research
participants through your organization.
Top of Form 1

16. "Missing the Mercury Threat: An appeal to New Jersey's Governor"
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deirdre-imus/missing-the-mercury-threa_b_
77927.html> dated 21 December 2007 by Deirdre Imus in The Huffington
Post blog at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deirdre-imus/missing-the-mercury-threa_b_7
7927.html.

"Albert Einstein once said, "only two things are infinite: the universe
and human stupidity". We got a good dose of what many would call "human
stupidity" last week in New Jersey when 5 un-elected members of the
Public Health Council (PHC) voted to mandate four new vaccines for
children. The vaccines that will be mandated in 2008 include: the
influenza vaccine, pneumococcal, meningococcal, tetanus, diphtheria and
acellular pertusis (Tdap) vaccine. Two of the vaccines, influenza and
Sanofi Pasteur's meningococcal vaccine (Menomune) contain thimerosal
(mercury). In spite of a week's long protest from constituents that
included parents, physicians and dozens of organizations, the State
Health Commissioner gave his "seal of approval" on Friday, December 15.
Today I want to appeal to New Jersey Governor Corzine to re-evaluate
these recommendations and carefully consider the ramifications for New
Jersey's children. Unless Governor Corzine, the state legislature, or
perhaps a judge intervenes, New Jersey will go down in history as the
first state in the nation, for that matter the world, to order parents
to vaccinate their preschoolers with a known developmental neurotoxin,
which many parents, physicians and scientific research suggest is linked
to the epidemic of developmental disorders, including autism. The PHC
recommendation came just days before another "first in the nation" law
was passed by Minnesota lawmakers who voted to ban the use of mercury in
mascara and other cosmetics. "Mercury does cause neurological damage to
people even in tiny quantities...can retard brain development in
children and fetuses who are most vulnerable to the metal's toxic
effects" stated the Minnesota officials. That's right, you can't put
mercury on your mommy's lashes in Minnesota but New Jersey health
officials just can't wait to inject it into your young children. After
repeated warnings about mercury toxicity in fish and following its
removal from over the counter products, thermostats, industrial
switches, medical devices, animal vaccines, even a leg paint used on
horses, the five appointed members of the PHC and the NJ Department of
Health (DOH) can claim credit for what could be one of the worst and
ill-advised public health decisions forced upon the public in recent
memory; a decision that was made under a cloak of secrecy, without
sufficient debate and perhaps in violation of procedural protocols. New
Jersey parents have a right to question the DOH actions. After all New
Jersey holds the dubious honor of having the highest autism rates in the
country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), one in 94 New Jersey children have autism, 1 in 60 boys. While
some NJ public health officials arrogantly dismiss the link between
vaccines and autism as "scientifically unfounded," and tell reporters
concerns about thimerosal is "a moot issue," since most vaccines are
either free of the compound or contain only trace amounts, like the
preschool flu vaccine.", a growing body of published scientific research
shows this
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/nyregion/11vaccine.html?_r=1&oref=slo
gin> opinion cannot be factually supported. To the contrary,
approximately 90% of the influenza vaccine supply still contains
thimerosal. According to the FDA, the 25 micrograms of mercury in one
influenza vaccine is NOT a "trace amount". According to EPA guidelines,
this amount can only be considered safe if a person weighs 550 pounds.
You would think a health official would know this. In addition, there
is no convincing evidence that the flu shot is actually effective. A
study published in the British Medical Journal, done by the Cochran
Collaboration, considered the Gold Standard for scientific research,
stated <http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/short/333/7574/912?ehom=>
the recommendations of flu shots for infants and toddlers are not backed
by scientific evidence [Jan.25, 2006]. So if research tells us the
vaccine is ineffective and it contains toxic mercury, why are officials
recommending it be given to our young children? ..."

17. "Some Parents Seek Options to Vaccine Orders" dated 23 December
2007 by JILL P. CAPUZZO
<http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=JILL P.
CAPUZZO&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=JILL P.
CAPUZZO&inline=nyt-per> from The New York Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/23vaccinesnj
.html?ref=nyregionspecial2.

"CONCERNED about possible side effects of vaccines and an ingredient
they contain, some New Jersey
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandposse
ssions/newjersey/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> parents are investigating
ways to opt out of the shots, four more of which will be required of
public school students beginning next fall. Members of parent networks
around the state have been abuzz since the commissioner of the New
Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services signed an order on Dec.
14 that mandates annual flu and pneumonia vaccines for children under 5
years old attending licensed day care or preschool beginning Sept. 1.
New Jersey is the first state to mandate flu shots for preschoolers.
Two other vaccines - one against a fast-killing strain of meningitis and
the other a booster of the immunization against tetanus, pertussis and
diphtheria - will also be required of sixth graders. Citing what some
parents believe is a link between autism and the mercury-containing
preservative thimerosal, which can be found in small amounts in the flu
vaccines, some parent groups vowed to push harder for the right to
refuse the vaccines on philosophical grounds, an exemption that exists
in other states but not in New Jersey. Legislation to that effect has
been introduced but has gained no traction, according to the bill's
sponsor, Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, Republican of Bergen
County. The Health Department does not support the
philosophical-grounds exemption, said Thomas Slater, a department
spokesman, because states that provide that option have had outbreaks.
Although medical studies have found no link between autism and
thimerosal, Mr. Slater said parents could request thimerosal-free
versions of the flu vaccine. Otherwise, New Jersey parents have four
options to circumvent the vaccine mandates: by receiving a religious
exemption, receiving a medical exemption, having their children attend
parochial or private schools or having them stay out of the school
system entirely. Each poses its own set of challenges, opponents of
mandated vaccines say. In 2006, 2,200 New Jersey students received
vaccine exemptions; 1,600 were religious exemptions and 600 were
medical. Those waivers, granted by the local school districts,
represented less than 1 percent of the total number of children
vaccinated, Mr. Slater said. To file for a religious exemption, a
parent must write a letter stating how the vaccines conflict with the
family's religious beliefs. Previously, religious exemptions were
largely limited to Christian Scientists, who believe in no medicines or
surgeries. The rules were amended in the 1990s to include all religions.
The application for a religious exemption does not require verification
by a member of the clergy. Barbara Flynn, a Summit mother of two, helps
parents draft queries about religious exemption through her Web site,
www.callingtheshots.info, where she provides a sample three-page letter,
with 27 pages of supporting data. "I've covered all the bases in my
letter, so parents can choose whatever aspect they like," Ms. Flynn
said, adding that parents "should never state something they don't
believe in." Medical waivers are more difficult to secure, because
doctors are reluctant to request them and the schools have the right to
challenge them if there is no clear evidence that the vaccine would harm
the child. "Doctors feel intimidated into not giving these exemptions,"
said Andrew Schlafly, general counsel to the Association of American
Physicians and Surgeons. "They're afraid they'll be investigated by the
medical board or delisted by the insurance companies." As for home
schooling, Amy Galarowicz, of North Caldwell, a member of the Holistic
Moms Network, sees this as a growing alternative for families seeking to
avoid vaccines. In interviews for her "Guide to Alternative Education
in Northern New Jersey," Ms. Galarowicz said the vaccine issue was
typically the second or third reason mentioned by parents who chose to
home-school their children. The debate has socioeconomic connotations
as well, she said. "It's unfortunate that it's the informed parents who
are going to pursue exemptions or home schooling," Ms. Galarowicz said.
"But it's the working parents, who are running to keep up, who are going
to trust what the doctors say and don't have time to investigate what's
best for their child."

18. "Snake-oil treatments for autism exploit desperate families;
spotting the frauds" dated 23 December 2007 by Dan Berrett
<javascript:NewWindow(740,530,'/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=048',0)>
from the Pocono Record at
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/712
230324/-1/NEWS01.

"In 1882, a product called the electric flesh brush, which had
magnetized iron rods in its handle, promised cures for a host of
maladies: malaria, paralysis, indigestion and even liver and kidney
trouble. An advertisement at the time boasted a testimonial from the
sister of Liza Land Parker, whose chronic rheumatism was cured by the
brush after traditional medicine failed. The story of her recovery -
and the product's seemingly limitless applications - may seem
unbelievable to modern eyes. But, in a sense, we remain equally
believing today. That is according to a historical analogy developed by
Dr. James Coplan, a neuropediatrician in Rosemont who shared his
hypothesis with staff and families at Colonial Intermediate Unit 20
during the fall. Families dealing with autism are especially
vulnerable. Autism, a group of developmental disabilities marked by
difficulty with social interactions and communication, affects one in
150 children. The ability of people with autism to think and learn vary
widely, as do their behaviors. "They're looking for people who can
offer them hope," Coplan said of the families. "They want to go
somewhere where someone can offer the promise of a cure." The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention says flatly that there is no cure for
autism. Intensive and early behavioral, verbal and communication
therapies tend to have the most success, doctors say. And in most cases,
some degree of improvement tends to occur over time. But the promise of
a wholesale cure can still easily be found on book shelves, at the
pharmacy and online. Some say to strip your child's diet of gluten and
casein, which are proteins found in wheat and milk, respectively. Pull
heavy metals from the blood, a practice called chelation. Soak a child
in clay baths, ask them to swallow amino acid capsules or take breaths
in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. As many as one-third of children with
autism may have tried these treatments. And several families will see
benefits. But up to 10 percent of the treatments are considered
dangerous, according to the CDC. A clinical report from the American
Academy of Pediatrics, of which Coplan is a fellow, recognizes this
yearning, even while it remains skeptical. "It's important for
pediatricians to maintain open communication and continue to work with
these families even if there is disagreement about treatment choices,"
Dr. Scott Myers, author of the report, wrote. "At the same time, it's
also important to critically evaluate the scientific evidence of
effectiveness and risk of harm." ..."

19. "Autistic Kids- The Sibling Problem" dated 24 December 2007 by Amy
Lennard Goehner from Time magazine at
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1698128-3,00.html.

"A few months ago, I took my sons to buy shoes. Nate is 14 and autistic.
Joey is 8 and "typical." And I'm the parent - most of the time. Before
we got to the store, Joey said to me, "If Nate has a tantrum, I can
handle him. You just focus on buying shoes. I'm better at handling
tantrums than you. Sometimes you just yell and it makes things worse. No
offense." None taken. He's absolutely right. The "typically
developing" siblings of autistic children are, in fact, the furthest
thing from typical. Often, they are wiser and more mature than their age
would suggest. And they have to be, given the myriad challenges they
face: parental responsibility; a feeling of isolation from the rest of
their family; confusion, fear, anger and embarrassment about their
autistic sibling. And on top of all of it, guilt for having these
feelings. As their parents, there's a lot we can do to help. For
starters, we can educate them early on, by explaining their sibling's
disorder - a conversation that should be ongoing. Dr. Raun Melmed,
co-founder and medical director of the Southwest Autism Research and
Resource Center in Phoenix, suggests including non-autistic children in
visits to the doctor or other autism professionals. Early intervention
doesn't have to be "thought of as being geared only to the involved
child," Melmed says. In his office, Melmed reassures siblings that
"other brothers and sisters have negative and confusing thoughts about
their [autistic] siblings. That is common." He also instructs parents to
reaffirm that message at home. "Parents need only acknowledge to their
healthy children that they know what they are going through and that
negative feelings are normal," he says. A great way for kids to feel
"normal" is to meet other siblings of autistic children, which they can
do at sibling workshops. At the Kennedy Krieger Institute for children
with developmental disabilities in Baltimore, social worker Mary
Snyder-Vogel runs a program called Sibshops. "The workshops give these
kids the opportunity to realize they're not alone," Snyder-Vogel says.
"[We play] a lot of games that help them interact and problem-solve with
peers. Kids don't even realize they're getting support." At a recent
Sibfun workshop at the Jewish Community Center on Manhattan's Upper West
Side, therapists used puppet shows to illustrate issues that are common
among siblings of special-needs kids. When asked what they thought the
puppets were feeling, the children in the audience needed no prompting,
immediately shouting out words like sad, disappointed and jealous.
Siblings will commonly have negative feelings - some might never connect
or want to connect with their autistic siblings - but the good news is
that typical siblings often turn out to be more compassionate and caring
than average. "These siblings have seen what it's like to have a hard
time in life," says Sandra Harris, executive director of Rutgers
University's Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, a program for
people with autism spectrum disorders and their families, and author of
Siblings of Children with Autism: A Guide for Families (Woodbine House).
There are many other, more specific challenges that affect siblings of
special-needs kids - and many of them apply to sibling relationships of
every kind. Here are some of the issues that most frequently confront
typical siblings - and their families - with advice from professionals.
..."

20. "Parents see daughter's Asperger's as extraordinary gift" dated 24
December 2007 from The Dallas Morning News at
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jflo
yd/stories/122307dnmetfloyd.5136536.html.

"First of three parts. Jessie Kierbow was a toddler strapped in her car
seat the day her father realized she could read. "Look, Dad!" she
chortled, pointing at a street sign on Abrams Road from which the "A"
had peeled away. "Brams!" When her parents took her to enroll in
kindergarten, she casually picked up a library book and started reading
aloud with flawless pronunciation and inflection, drawing an astonished
circle of goggle-eyed teachers. Last year, as a fourth-grader, she
bested middle school kids in a school district spelling competition.
Entranced by popular anime cartoons and video games, she taught herself
to read and write in Japanese. For fun. "When I first started, I
thought it was really difficult," she confided, quickly writing a neat
row of character symbols that represented my name. (I had to take her
word for it.) "Now it's pretty easy." Jessie, now 11, is an
extraordinary child. She's hyperlexic, meaning she has had an
exceptional reading ability from an early age. It's linked to her
Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism often characterized by social
difficulty, physical awkwardness, above-average intelligence and
laserlike intellectual fixations. That clinical aggregate of medical
definitions doesn't begin to portray this engaging child who proves
that, while love may not conquer all, it can make all the difference in
the world. "I'm so proud of her," said her mother, Lisa Kyler. "Nobody
has a kid like Jessie. I'm just so lucky." "Lucky," perhaps, is an odd
self-description from the parent of a child who has, after all, a
diagnosed disability. But love for their daughter has led Jessie's
parents to make what, in contemporary society, might be considered
remarkable accommodations. Lisa, a smart, straightforward woman with a
quick sense of humor, cleans houses for a living. It's not her first
career choice, but it affords the flexibility to pick up Jessie at the
end of the school day. She lives in a small apartment not far from
Mockingbird Station - houses in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood are
out of her price reach, but she lives there so Jessie can attend highly
rated Stonewall Jackson Elementary School. Her ex-husband, Mike
Kierbow, a remodeler, splits custody down the middle. She and Mike
remain friends and frequently take Jessie out together. Sometimes, they
all go on vacation together. "Our priority is Jessie. That hasn't
changed," said Mike. "She has always been surrounded by love, and
there's no reason for that to be any different." If there were hard
feelings in the wake of divorce - and when aren't there? - they have put
them aside with astonishing grace. Kids know when Mom and Dad aren't
getting along, even if it's covered with a veneer of chilly rote
politeness. ..."

21. "Fever can lift fog of autism- Krieger confirms parents' accounts"
dated 24 December 2007 by Stephanie Desmon from the Baltimore Sun at
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.md.autism24dec24,0,134074
7.story.

"The stories were hard to believe at first -- tales of autistic children
coming down with fevers and suddenly acting like a normal child.
Youngsters who routinely told their parents to go away instead said,
"Play with me." Children who usually shunned physical contact cuddled up
to mom on the couch. Many parents were sure their doctors would think
those stories were sheer fantasy. But Dr. Andrew W. Zimmerman, a
pediatric neurologist at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, heard
so many of these accounts over the course of his 40-year career that he
decided to see if science would back them up. In a surprising finding
published in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics, Zimmerman and
his colleagues determined that fever-induced improvements did, in fact,
occur in more than 80 percent of the 30 autistic children they studied.
But the positive changes in behavior and language use were fleeting. And
scientists still don't know what brought them on -- or why they occurred
in some children and not others. But researchers say the observations
offer new insight into what is malfunctioning in the autistic brain --
and how it might one day be treated. "If we could understand what's
going on with this, we might be able to understand autism better and be
in a better position to treat it," said Zimmerman, director of medical
research at Kennedy Krieger's Center for Autism & Related Disorders.
Autism is a spectrum of disorders marked by impaired social development
and communication as well as repetitive behavior such as flapping arms
or jumping up and down. Autistic children usually are slow to learn to
speak and often find it hard to read basic social cues in the faces of
others or to relate to people in general. Rene Craft's son Jackson was
diagnosed as autistic when he was 3 1/2 years old. But doctors
determined much earlier that he had a sensory integration disorder.
Craft says her son, now 6, is highly sensitive and "not in a good way."
He feels assaulted by the background music in department stores, the
feel of denim, the bright lights and constant sounds that others accept
as part of their world. One day, when he was 3 and did not yet speak
more than a word here or there, Jackson came down with a fever. "He was
lying in our bed and ... out of the blue, he said, 'I like the sheets,
Daddy. They're very comfortable.' We had never heard our son's voice in
anything but a scream. I don't think he'd ever addressed us," recalled
Craft, who lives in Austin, Texas. "Then he looked out the window and
said, 'It's raining.' He never noticed the weather before. He never
noticed anything. "When he had a fever, it was almost like a fog was
lifted." She and her son watched a video together that day. He watched
to see whether she was laughing at the funny parts and then he would
laugh. Two days later, when Jackson was feeling better, she put the
same video in. "He ran screaming from the room," she said. "The fever
was gone, and he was gone again. He didn't speak for another year."
Researchers do not know what causes autism, whose various symptoms
affect up to one in 150 children. But they say they believe it has a
genetic component that might be triggered by something in the
environment. Autism stole her child, Craft said. But when Jackson had a
fever, he seemed to be telling her that he was in there somewhere. She
said she was glad that her husband was there to see it, because she
doubts that her pediatrician believed her when she told him. It wasn't
in the literature, she was told. ..."

22. "School studied for environmental causes of autism" dated 26
December 2007 from Newsday.com at
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--autismcases12
26dec26,0,516410.story.

"Teachers at a Bergen County school that serves autistic children are
giving birth to an unusually high number of autistic children, a
researcher said. Dr. Lawrence Rosen, medical adviser at the Deirdre
Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology, said there appears to
be an autism cluster at St. Anthony's school in Northvale, which serves
children with autism and other learning disabilities. He said he
suspects it's because of an environmental problem and that the center,
which started the inquiry, wants tests of air, water and soil at the
school, The Record of Bergen County reported for Wednesday's newspapers.
However, preliminary findings from air quality tests done for the
Northern Valley regional school district have not found anything unusual
at the school, according to an assistant superintendent. No
abnormalities were found during inspections by the state health
department and by an engineering firm hired by the Archdiocese of
Newark, which owns the property. The initial study included interviews
with 24 current or former school employees who had children either while
they worked at the school or since then. Their 42 offspring included 24
with developmental disorders _ 10 with autism. Superintendent Jan
Furman pointed out that Rosen's conclusions were based on a small
sampling of employees. Only 46 of the 515 employees at St. Antony's and
other district facilities responded to a letter sent to them before the
interviews were conducted. Furman noted that Dr. Walter Zahorodny, an
assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey, has said the study's limited scope means it may
be premature to declare an autism cluster at St. Anthony's. Zahorodny
heads the New Jersey Autism Study, part of a multistate study that found
one in every 150 eight-year-olds in the country has some degree of
autism. In New Jersey, the figure is one of every 94 children."

23. "Autism is Correlated with Mercury from Vaccinations" dated 27
December 2007 by Lourdes Salvador from the American Chronicle at
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=4718
2.

"Parents want to know what is leading to the apparent increase in
autism, and many across the country are blaming mercury from vaccines as
the culprit for their children's autism. Doctors and medical
organizations have denied there is a connection and continue to
recommend, and even force, vaccinations that contain thimerosal.
Thimerosal contains the neurotoxin mercury and doctors claim the dose is
not high enough to cause any damage to health. Researchers at the
Department of Psychology, University of Northern Iowa wanted to know the
truth. Particularly interested in the correlation between mercury
exposure and autism, the researchers cite that, like the link between
aspirin and heart attack, even a small effect can have major health
implications. Could mercury contribute to autism? Proponents of both
sides of the autism debate over mercury cite that the other side refers
to studies that are misleading or funded by industry. Those who support
no connection between mercury and autism are accused of reporting false
results to protect the financial interests of pharmaceutical companies
and industry. Some say researchers are paid off to report the desired
findings of the payer. Refreshingly, this set of researchers stated
that "If there is any link between autism and mercury, it is absolutely
crucial that the first reports of the question are not falsely stating
that no link occurs." This led them to reanalyzing a data set
originally reported by Ip et al. in 2004. They found an error in the
original p value. Upon correcting this error, they found that a
significant relation does exist between the blood levels of mercury and
diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder! Parents have been saying all
along that the symptoms of mercury poisoning are the same as the
symptoms of autism. Many claim that chelation cured and/or improved
their child's health and behavior. Further evidence can be found in the
fact that both autism and increased vaccinations occurred
simultaneously. There is still one question that burns in many parents'
minds. Why are some children affected and not others? This reanalyzed
study has provided an answer. Hair samples in this study support the
theory that persons with autism may be less efficient at eliminating
mercury. This would indicate that vaccination with thimerosal laced
vaccines is contraindicated in a significant portion of the population,
if not all. Should thimerosal be eliminated from all childhood
vaccines? It would probably be a good idea based on these findings. Yet,
New Jersey just enacted a law to force children to receive a thimerosal
laced flu shot each year. New Jersey also has the highest rates of
autism in the country. Parents must wonder why lawmakers without medical
degrees are calling the "shots"."

24. "After DNA Diagnosis: 'Hello, 16p11.2. Are You Just Like Me?" dated
28 December 2007 by Amy Harmon from The New York Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/health/research/28dna.html?ei=5070&en=
ef67bdc63e8dfa8d&ex=1199509200&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1199293462-/+1D
yPSUrzMPSQKARdyESQ.

"The girls had never met, but they looked like sisters. There was no
missing the similarities: the flat bridge of their noses, the thin lips,
the fold near the corner of their eyes. And to the families of
14-year-old Samantha Napier and 4-year-old Taygen Lane there was
something else, too. In the likeness was lurking an explanation for the
learning difficulties, the digestion problems, the head-banging that had
troubled each of them, for so long. Several of the adults wiped tears
from their eyes. "It's like meeting family," said Jessica Houk,
Samantha's older sister, who accompanied her and their mother to a
Kentucky amusement park last July to greet Taygen. But the two families
are not related, and would never have met save for an unusual bond: a
few months earlier, a newly available DNA test revealed that Samantha
and Taygen share an identical nick in the short arm of their 16th
chromosomes. With technology that can now scan each of an individual's
46 chromosomes for minute aberrations, doctors are providing thousands
of children lumped together as "autistic
<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/autism/overview.html?in
line=nyt-classifier> " or "developmentally delayed" with distinct
genetic diagnoses. The symptoms, they are finding, can be traced to one
of dozens of deletions or duplications of DNA that were previously hard
or impossible to detect. Some mutations are so rare that they are known
only by their chromosomal address: Samantha and Taygen are two of only
six children with the diagnosis "16p11.2." Few of these mutations were
inherited in the traditional sense, and the affected children are
typically the only family member with the disorder. So, many parents are
searching out strangers struck by the same genetic lightning bolt. They
want solace, advice and answers to what the future might hold. From
other families of children with the same chromosomal anomaly, they are
seeking insight into their own. Sometimes what they find is unsettling.
But in the emerging communities of the genetically rare, more often it
is sustaining. For three families, the impulse to find others in the
same situation was immediate. A few months before the Lanes crossed the
state to meet Taygen's chromosomal cousin, Jennie Dopp, a mother in
Utah, was scouring the Internet for families with "7q11.23," the
diagnosis that explained her son's odd behavior and halting speech. "I
want someone to say 'I know what you mean,'" Ms. Dopp told her husband,
"and really mean it." Noa Ospenson's parents flew from Boston to South
Carolina for a meeting of 100 families with children who, like Noa, are
also "22q13." Hoping for more information about their daughter's
diagnosis, they emerged as lifetime members of what they call "Noa's
tribe." For each of them, a genetic mutation became the foundation for
a new form of kinship. ..."

25. "Will Autism Speaks Fire Donald Trump?
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-stagliano/will-autism-speaks-fire-d_b
_78694.html> " dated 29 December 2007 by Kim Stagliano </kim-stagliano>
in The Huffington Post blog at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-stagliano/will-autism-speaks-fire-d_b_
78694.html.

"Will Autism Speaks "fire" billionaire fundraiser Donald Trump for
telling the world he believes vaccinations may be at the heart of the
autism? Trump's long running hit "The Apprentice" runs on NBC, and Bob
Wright, founder of Autism Speaks is still with GE, which owns the
network. Trump could be in trouble! Why? Allow me to explain. The
Donald made a startling pronouncement during a press stop for Autism
Speaks at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida. One would call his words,
"heresy" in some autism circles. He fingered vaccines and referenced the
epidemic numbers of kids with autism. Looks like Donald Trump has been
paying attention to the news. The Sun Sentinel reported: "In an
interview, Donald Trump said he thinks the rising prevalence of autism
is related to vaccinations of babies and toddlers, a topic that is hotly
debated among parents and doctors. One in 150 children is now diagnosed
with autism, with the prevalence higher among boys. "When I was growing
up, autism wasn't really a factor," he said. "And now all of a sudden,
it's an epidemic. Everybody has their theory, and my theory is the
shots. They're getting these massive injections at one time. I think
it's the vaccinations." (Here
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpautism1228pndec
28,0,7162133.story> is the full Sun Sentinel Story.) "Hotly debated?"
Try nuclear. And Autism Speaks has run away from the vaccine/autism
debate faster than that NASCAR dude they sponsor can race. Someone
(Pick me! Pick me!) had better show "The Donald" Bob and Suzanne
Wright's letter in which they disassociated themselves from their
daughter Katie for speaking out about her similar beliefs on autism and
vaccinations. (Why look! It's right here
<http://www.autismspeaks.org/wrights_statement.php> !) Better yet,
let's allow The Great Gray Lady to tell The Donald about how the Wrights
pitted daughter against dollars. (Hint, the dollars won.) This
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/us/18autism.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ad
xnnlx=1198861427-Zig/HYhiudBqAh/EPy5RFQ> article from The New York
Times described the Wright's treatment of Katie in order to assuage the
hurt feelings of fund raisers, volunteers and researchers associated
with Autism Speaks. Here's a bit of the article: So, in early June, Bob
and Suzanne Wright repudiated their daughter on the charity's Web site.
"Katie Wright is not a spokesperson" for the organization, the Wrights
said in a brusque statement. Her "personal views differ from ours." The
Wrights also apologized to "valued volunteers" who had been disparaged.
Told by friends how cold the rebuke sounded, Mrs. Wright belatedly added
a line saying, "Katie is our daughter, and we love her very much." Now
that's cold, isn't it, Donald? The young woman whose child launched a
multi-million dollar charity, the founders' own daughter, doesn't
represent the ongoing mission of said charity. Makes you and Rosie look
like a love fest. Donald, when Bob and Suzanne Wright fib to you that
they are looking at all potential causes of autism, let me tell you
about the day back in 2006 when Suzanne Wright promised me in front of
hundreds that Autism Speaks was going to study vaccines and autism.
Don't be swayed, as I was when she says, "Autism knocked on the wrong
door." In reality, it knocked on a bank vault door. (Got time? Pop some
popcorn, grab the family and check out the video here
<http://www.autismmedia.org/media/swright.mov> .) I've filed her empty
promise under "BFL" (big fat lie) and stored it next to my shattered
dreams about weapons of mass destruction, compassionate Conservatives
and Santa Claus. How will tread marks look on your Armani suit? Please
watch your back, Donald. You might find yourself locked out of Two Park
Avenue, unless you own that building. Of course, your cash might
insulate you from the drubbing Katie took, unless the Wright's are
dining with Bill Gates tonight, in which case his cash, er, trumps your
own. If you do find yourself locked out, you're welcome to pop up to
Connecticut to visit my family. You can even wave to Bob and Suzanne who
live down Route 95 and waaay on the other side of the tracks from me.
You see, we have three children with autism and measure our fortune not
in dollars and donations but in dry undies and single word sentences.
Donald, I thank you for stating your opinion in your inimitable way.
When your handsome son Baron says, "Hi, Daddy! The market is up today!"
and points at the carousel you probably have in your backyard, think
about those of us whose kids have never pointed or uttered so much as a
word. I don't want to cause trouble between you and the Wrights (insert
eye roll here.) I simply want to get some answers and bona fide
treatment research for my girls and the thousands of other kids who make
up the epidemic that you have acknowledged. Or perhaps I should say,
"Ivana get some answers?"

26. "The fight for autism- Parents of kids with autism struggle to free
their children from the grip of the mysterious disorder - and find ways
to foot the bills" dated 30 December 2007 by Karen Auge from The Denver
Post at http://www.denverpost.com/popular/ci_7838774?source=email.

"There was a time, Jill Tappert said, when she didn't think she'd ever
hear the word "Mama" from her daughter. Abby Tappert was, in her
mother's words, born limp. She couldn't suck. She didn't seem to care
whether her parents were in the room or not, whether they held her or
didn't. At 9 months, she couldn't sit up, and she didn't take a step
until she was almost 2. As her mother recalled Abby the baby this
month, Abby the 4-year-old twirled around the family's Boulder living
room, a blur of purple tights and floating ponytails. "Look at me, look
at me," she sang softly. "Look at me! Look at me!" People are, in fact,
looking at Abby Tappert. Last month, a judge ordered the family's
insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, to cover the therapy
her parents say has cost them $110,000 over the past two years. That
has gotten a lot of people's attention. The number of children
diagnosed with autism, a mysterious and often devastating neurological
disorder, has exploded. But answers, proven treatment options and help
for anxious and financially strained parents and their children have not
kept pace. So while arguments continue in courts, schools and insurance
offices across the nation, autism continues to exact an enormous toll,
emotionally and financially, on parents and taxpayers. This year, the
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that as
many as 1 in 150 children in the United States have some form of autism.
In Colorado, the estimate is 1 in 169. In the late 1960s when she
entered the medical field, the estimate was 1 in every 10,000 children,
said Cordelia Robinson, director of the University of Colorado Denver
School of Medicine's JFK Partners. The medical school, JFK Partners and
Children's Hospital this month were named two of 15 Autism Treatment
Network centers by Autism Speaks, a nationwide advocacy group. There is
no standard treatment for autism. Science is still struggling to explain
the condition itself. In the meantime, parents often wind up searching
out treatments on their own. When they do, they discover a dizzying
array of options - from speech or behavior therapy to gluten-free diets
to hyperbaric oxygen therapy and even something called the Weighted
Therapy Belt, available on the Internet for $43.95. Whatever they
choose is likely to be very expensive, and not covered by insurance.
There is a saying in autism circles: " 'The bad news is, your child has
autism. The good news is, it's treatable. The bad news is, you can't
afford it,' " said Betty Lehman, executive director of the Autism
Society of Colorado. ..."

27. "What is autism? Beyond the symptoms and stereotypes" dated 30
December 2007 by Donna Williams from the American Chronicle at
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=4746
0.

"My definition of autism has evolved through my experience as an autism
consultant with hundreds of children since 1997 together with my own
experience as a person assessed as a psychotic infant in 1965 at age 2
and later diagnosed with autism. My definition has been captured in
various ways in my 9 published books, perhaps most particularly in
Autism; An Inside Out Approach and in The Jumbled Jigsaw. In my view,
autism is NOT ONE CONDITION and hence there is no one-size-fits-all
approach which will best fit ALL people diagnosed with autism or Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In my view, autism an UMBRELLA TERM for an
ONGOING COLLECTION OF AUTISTIC RESPONSES which can be: * Compulsive or
involuntary, * Self stimulatory, * Self protective and distancing, *
Distress reactions, * Result of addiction to one's own chemistry highs,
* Attempts to connect and make sense of one's experiences when usual
channels are emotionally, physically or otherwise developmentally
blocked. Whilst we can talk of ASDs, THERE IS NO ONE TYPE OF AUTISM
because autism is like a fruit salad. For each person diagnosed with
autism the pieces in that fruit salad can be many or few, big or small,
exotic or common. When the 'fruit salad' is chronically too big for the
infant to handle their development and responses take an 'AUTISTIC
PATTERN'. Among what can be underneath a label of autism or ASD can
include GREATLY VARYING COMBINATIONS of any or all of the following: *
Visual, verbal and proprioperceptive Agnosias - meaning blindness,
meaning deafness, body disconnectedness which can alter the learning
styles available to the person with autism. So, for example someone with
visual-verbal agnosia may struggle to think or learn visually or
verbally but may cope well learning physically, musically or through
experiencing systems of things. Agnosias can sometimes be reduced in
their severity and can always be adapted to once understood. * Often
treatable or manageable, inherited or acquired, gut, immune and/or
metabolic disorders leading to changes in mood, anxiety, impulse
control, awareness, comprehension, attention, energy levels and general
information processing. * Altered neurological integration (the links
in the different functioning departments in the brain) resulting in the
movement and articulation (pronunciation) disorders of Dyspraxia (clumsy
child syndrome), muscle tone disorders like Dystonia (floppy child
syndrome), sensory integration problems, sensory hypersensitivities and
Synesthesias (sensory cross overs) and subsequent altered and often
delayed information processing, all of which can be worked with
constructively. * Inherited or acquired onset of often manageable
co-morbid mood, anxiety, rage, or compulsive disorders (may include tics
) and/or attention deficits. * Inherited or acquired often manageable
tendencies to addiction which can manifest in addiction to emotional
extremes and fixation on what which trigger them. Autism and ASD may
manifest in more stereotypical patterns in those with particular
personality traits such as the Solitary, Idiosyncratic, Vigilant,
Artistic, Conscientious, Leisurely, Devoted, Sensitive, Serious and
Inventive and may be present but appear less stereotypical in other
personality traits. Because of this, programs often seek to inhibit
natural personality traits, confusing these with 'the autism' and
further complicating the stress and confusion experienced by people with
ASD. Home, learning, employment and social environments become part of
that autism fruit salad as they can be MORE or LESS: * sensorily
overwhelming, * accommodating of learning, personality,
sensory-perceptual and physical (ie motor planning) differences, *
empowering and patient, * emotionally overwhelming, * nutritionally or
physically healthy, * informed, open minded or capable of embracing,
advocating for and working constructively with diversity, * degrees of
social and professional support appropriate to their needs as a family
and the nature of a particular person's 'fruit salad'. What determines
the abilities and progress of any person with autism, is how the fruit
salad is respectfully managed based on solid understanding of those
components. Some aspects of an 'autism fruit salad', in some people (and
may not be present in all for them to be equally 'autistic'), will
require treatment, others management, others adaptation and some only
understanding, respect and acceptance. All things grow differently
depending on the interplay between their inherent nature and their
environment conditions."

28. "Human Genetic Variation: Science's 'Breakthrough Of The Year"
dated 31 December 2007 in a press release from the American Association
for the Advancement of Science <http://www.aaas.org> at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071220140817.htm.

* "In 2007, researchers were dazzled by the degree to which
genomes differ from one human to another and began to understand the
role of these variations in disease and personal traits. Science and its
publisher, AAAS, the nonprofit science society, recognize "Human Genetic
Variation" as the Breakthrough of the Year, and identify nine other of
the year's most significant scientific accomplishments. "For years
we've been hearing about how similar people are to one another and even
to other apes," said Robert Coontz, deputy news editor for physical
sciences who managed the selection process. "In 2007, advances on
several fronts drove home for the first time how much DNA differs from
person to person, too. It's a huge conceptual leap that will affect
everything from how doctors treat diseases to how we see ourselves and
protect our privacy." The genomes of several individuals have already
been sequenced. As technologies advance, many of us will have some,
perhaps all, of our own genomes sequenced and will be able to learn the
diseases for which we are at risk. Since the sequencing of the human
genome, biologists have been charting minute variations as small as one
base, called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These variations
were key to a dozen research projects in 2007 called genome-wide
association studies in which researchers compared the DNA of thousands
of individuals with and without a disease to determine which small
genetic variants pose risks. This information can help lead researchers
to disease-related genes, as in the case of several type 2 diabetes
genes found this year. Genome-wide association studies this year
provided insight into many diseases, including atrial fibrillation,
autoimmune disease, bipolar disorder, breast cancer, colorectal cancer,
type 1 and 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, multiple sclerosis
and rheumatoid arthritis. In 2007, biologists also learned that within
DNA's billions of bases, thousands to millions of them can get lost,
added or copied in ways that can change genetic activity within a few
generations. The effects of these "copy number variants" have been shown
in populations with high-starch diets, as they have more copies of a
gene for digesting starch than members of societies of hunter gatherers.
Geneticists who studied the genomes of children with and without autism
have found a new DNA modification that leads to increased risk for
autism. The first runner-up in Science's special feature on the top
scientific advances of 2007 is the technology to reprogram cells.
Japanese and American teams announced in June that they had made
"induced pluripotent stem" (iPS) cells from mouse skin that could be
used to produce all of the body's cells including eggs and sperm,
thereby demonstrating that iPS cells have the same capabilities as
embryonic stem cells. In November two teams reported making iPS cells
from human skin cells. This research could alter the science and
politics of stem cell research. "Like the main breakthrough, Coontz
said, "reprogramming cells could open new avenues of biomedical research
once scientists clear a few more hurdles. It was a strong contender for
our main breakthrough, but we gave the nod to human genetic variation
because it's so fast-moving and so sweeping." Other notable research
advances include: ..."

29. "More Vaccines, Less Disease, But Kids Feel Like Pincushions" by
Kristen Gerencher from Fox News at
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/health-care/article/vaccin
es-disease-kids-feel-like-pincushions_418942_10.html.

"Young children receive far more vaccinations than they did even 20
years ago, which has led to a drastic reduction in many
vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States. But it has also made
routine trips to the pediatrician a nonstop needling. "Children can get
as many as 20 separate shots by the time they're a few years old, but it
beats the diseases and that's the alternative often," said Dr. Paul
Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children Hospital in
Philadelphia. The development of effective vaccines represents one of
the biggest public-health triumphs in history, and is partly responsible
for the 30 years of extra life expectancy, on average, that Americans
gained last century, health experts say. Still, some parents remain
concerned that certain vaccine components may cause children harm.
They're not convinced that numerous scientific studies showing no link
to autism and other developmental disorders proves the issue is moot.
The number of cases of vaccine-preventable diseases is at an all-time
low in the U.S., according to a study of 13 of them in the Nov. 14 issue
of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Hospitalizations
and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases have also shown striking
decreases," the authors wrote. Immunization with seven of the routinely
recommended childhood vaccines prevents an estimated 33,000 deaths and
14 million cases of disease over the lives of the nearly 4 million
children born in any given year in the U.S., the study found.
Vaccinations also save $10 billion in direct costs and $33 billion in
costs stemming from lost productivity and disability in these groups.
Occasional manufacturing problems aside, the vaccines are widely
available -- and not just in pediatricians' offices. Families can
receive immunizations at retail clinics such as MinuteClinics in
CVS/pharmacy stores and RediClinics, which are housed in select Wal-Mart
and HEB stores and open evenings and weekends. Kids who are uninsured
or are in low-income families can receive routine immunizations through
the Vaccines for Children Program, for which 45% of U.S. kids are
eligible, said Curtis Allen, spokesman for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC <javascript:stockSearch('CDC');> ).
Obstacles to vaccination. Vaccines are a standard of care, meaning
pediatricians routinely administer them and insurance policies generally
cover their cost. But there are variations in what states and school
districts mandate that children be vaccinated against before they are
allowed into school. Last week, New Jersey became the first state to
require flu shots for preschoolers. Nearly all states allow exemptions
from childhood vaccines for medical reasons, and most states offer
religious exemptions upon school entry. But 17 states allow parents
with philosophical objections to opt out, according to the Immunization
Action Coalition, an advocacy group in St. Paul, Minn. That has some
experts worried that families may use that exemption as cover for the
inconvenience of keeping up with the growing list of primary and booster
shots. "Because of the number of injections that are given, in fact
some of the effort being made is to try to reduce injections by
developing combination vaccines of multiple antigens that can be given
simultaneously," said Dr. Joseph Bocchini, chair of the American Academy
of Pediatrics' Committee on Infectious Diseases and a pediatric
infectious-disease specialist at Louisiana State University's Health
Science Center in Shreveport. It also can be a logistical challenge,
which is why parents should ask their child's pediatrician about
participating in a vaccine registry, said Dr. Lance Rodewald, director
of CDC's Immunization Services Division in Atlanta. "The schedule has
become more difficult for parents to keep track of whether their child
is up to date or not," he said. "A lot of the states are trying to help
out by developing immunization registries that can help keep track of
children's vaccinations from one provider to another." Distribution
problems also can prevent families from getting their children fully
immunized. Earlier this month the CDC announced a recall of nearly 1
million doses of Merck's Hib vaccine. The agency said the affected lots
don't pose a health risk to children. See full story. "One company
pulling its vaccine off the market for a few weeks can have
ramifications all throughout the pediatric community," said Dr. Edwin
Anderson, a pediatric vaccine researcher at Saint Louis University's
Center for Vaccine Development in Mo. ..."
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE